C24: Ambassador Hilale Debunks Algeria's Pseudo Observer Status in Moroccan Sahara Issue
To this end, ambassador Hilale reaffirmed that contrary to the claims of its ambassador, "Algeria has never been a mere observer in the issue of the Moroccan Sahara."Algeria has, from the beginning, been a stakeholder in this dispute." To support his assertion, ambassador Hilale read, before the audience, a letter addressed, on November 19, 1975, by the former ambassador of Algeria to the United Nations, to the Secretary General of the UN, and distributed as an official document of the Security Council, in which the Algerian representative states in black and white that "in addition to Spain, in its capacity as administering power, the parties concerned and interested in the question of Western Sahara are Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania”. No so-called polisario at the time, said ambassador Hilale.
He recalled that it was Algeria that created the "polisario". "It is in an Algerian hotel that the so-called Sahrawi republic was created," he said. Addressing the Algerian ambassador: Who finances the "polisario"? Who shelters it on its territory? Who arms it? Who equips it with missiles, tanks and other military vehicles unloaded at the port of Oran? Who issues its diplomatic passports? Who pays for its business class air tickets and its 5 star hotels? If not Algeria, which does so at the expense of its own population and its economic and social development.
Hilale abounded in evidence damning Algeria for its direct role in the Moroccan Sahara issue, by denouncing the direct involvement of the Algerian army in attacks against Morocco, in support of the "polisario" in 1976, at two battles of Amghala, during which hundreds of Algerian officers and soldiers were captured by the Royal Armed Forces, and subsequently handed over to the ICRC.
He also recalled the humanitarian tragedy endured by hundreds of Moroccan detainees for more than two decades in Algerian jails in Tindouf, in violation of the most basic principles of international humanitarian law, and in defiance of family ties, blood, neighborhood and the common history of the two peoples.
The Moroccan diplomat also noted that it is on the orders of Algeria that the "polisario" has denounced the ceasefire since last November, stressing that it is from Tindouf that the armed militias of the "polisario" moved to block, for more than 3 weeks, the passage of Guergarat, between Morocco and Mauritania, before its liberation, once and for all, by the Royal Armed Forces.
Regarding Algeria's blatant political involvement, ambassador Hilale informed the seminar participants of the proposal for the participation of the Sahara made in 2001 by former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to the former Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, James Baker, throwing out his so-called commitment to the right to self-determination. Morocco strongly rejected this proposal, based on its unshakeable belief in the territorial unity of the Moroccan Sahara and the uniqueness of its population.
Rejecting the false assertions put forward by the representative of Algeria, that the UN resolutions recognize only two parties to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, Hilale stressed that the resolutions of the Security Council, including resolution 2548 of October 30, 2020, cite Algeria, along with Morocco, at least 5 times, as an effective stakeholder in the political process.
He recalled that the Algerian foreign ministers personally and fully participated in the two round-table meetings in Geneva in December 2018 and March 2019. Warning directly ambassador Mimouni that "if Algeria persists in its denial, during the resumption of the political process, which we hope, in the coming weeks, and if Algeria does not resume its place at the round-table discussions, there will be no political process."
"I say from this rostrum, if the Algerian minister does not participate in the roundtable process, in accordance with the modalities set by the Security Council resolutions, under the pretext that his country is not a party to the dispute, he will have to assume responsibility," warned ambassador Hilale, noting that for Morocco as for the Security Council, "Algeria is indeed a stakeholder in the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara. It is and will remain so. And it is with Algeria that the problem will be solved, the armed separatist group, the polisario, is only an instrument of Algeria's agenda," concluded the representative of the Kingdom.
He recalled that it was Algeria that created the "polisario". "It is in an Algerian hotel that the so-called Sahrawi republic was created," he said. Addressing the Algerian ambassador: Who finances the "polisario"? Who shelters it on its territory? Who arms it? Who equips it with missiles, tanks and other military vehicles unloaded at the port of Oran? Who issues its diplomatic passports? Who pays for its business class air tickets and its 5 star hotels? If not Algeria, which does so at the expense of its own population and its economic and social development.
Hilale abounded in evidence damning Algeria for its direct role in the Moroccan Sahara issue, by denouncing the direct involvement of the Algerian army in attacks against Morocco, in support of the "polisario" in 1976, at two battles of Amghala, during which hundreds of Algerian officers and soldiers were captured by the Royal Armed Forces, and subsequently handed over to the ICRC.
He also recalled the humanitarian tragedy endured by hundreds of Moroccan detainees for more than two decades in Algerian jails in Tindouf, in violation of the most basic principles of international humanitarian law, and in defiance of family ties, blood, neighborhood and the common history of the two peoples.
The Moroccan diplomat also noted that it is on the orders of Algeria that the "polisario" has denounced the ceasefire since last November, stressing that it is from Tindouf that the armed militias of the "polisario" moved to block, for more than 3 weeks, the passage of Guergarat, between Morocco and Mauritania, before its liberation, once and for all, by the Royal Armed Forces.
Regarding Algeria's blatant political involvement, ambassador Hilale informed the seminar participants of the proposal for the participation of the Sahara made in 2001 by former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to the former Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, James Baker, throwing out his so-called commitment to the right to self-determination. Morocco strongly rejected this proposal, based on its unshakeable belief in the territorial unity of the Moroccan Sahara and the uniqueness of its population.
Rejecting the false assertions put forward by the representative of Algeria, that the UN resolutions recognize only two parties to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, Hilale stressed that the resolutions of the Security Council, including resolution 2548 of October 30, 2020, cite Algeria, along with Morocco, at least 5 times, as an effective stakeholder in the political process.
He recalled that the Algerian foreign ministers personally and fully participated in the two round-table meetings in Geneva in December 2018 and March 2019. Warning directly ambassador Mimouni that "if Algeria persists in its denial, during the resumption of the political process, which we hope, in the coming weeks, and if Algeria does not resume its place at the round-table discussions, there will be no political process."
"I say from this rostrum, if the Algerian minister does not participate in the roundtable process, in accordance with the modalities set by the Security Council resolutions, under the pretext that his country is not a party to the dispute, he will have to assume responsibility," warned ambassador Hilale, noting that for Morocco as for the Security Council, "Algeria is indeed a stakeholder in the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara. It is and will remain so. And it is with Algeria that the problem will be solved, the armed separatist group, the polisario, is only an instrument of Algeria's agenda," concluded the representative of the Kingdom.